SCDSB chair predicts more uncertainty in 2013

BARRIE - Robert North, chairperson of the Simcoe County District School Board (SCDSB), said he doesn’t know what to expect when staff and students return to class in the New Year.
“I really wish I could say what will unfold, but given the unchartered waters we are in – I can’t say,” North told the Barrie Advance at the conclusion of the board’s final meeting of 2012 Wednesday night.
“There are players with a lot more power than I have,” North stated, referring to teachers’ unions and the Ministry of Education.
The two opposing factions are heading for a showdown, with Education Minister Laurel Broten refusing to back down on the controversial Bill 115.
“As a board, we have come out strongly against Bill 115 due to the way it affects local boards of education,” North said. “School trustees have been part of education for more than 200 years. We pre-date Parliament and the Ontario Legislature. We were one of the first forms of democracy in the modern age. That seems to be shifting.”
“We’re going to give an opportunity for (local) negotiations to take place,” Broten said on Dec. 18. “After Dec. 31, the ability to negotiate collective agreements expires. At that point, we’d look to the tools in the legislation.”
Across the province, student leaders, including members of the SCDSB student senate, are urging the government to act. Both elementary and secondary teachers have withdrawn from conducting extra-curricular activities.
“We have to remember if the power of local boards are eroded, then local voices are eroded,” North said. “Until recently, school boards made important decisions. With the centralization of power in Toronto, we don’t feel it serves students well.”
- with files from Torstar News Service